January - February 2007 - Merrimack Valley People for Peace

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Weekly Vigils Andover: Sunday, noon-1 pm; Shawsheen Square, Junction of Routes 133 and 28; Lawrence Friends Meeting/ Shawsheen Peace Witness; Allan Sifferlen, asifferlen@sbra.com. Andover: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 7-8 pm; Saturday, 10:45 am-noon (in good weather, 10-noon); Old Town Hall, 20 Main St.; Merrimack Valley People for Peace; Lou Bernieri, lbernieri@andover.edu. Andover: Tuesday, 6:30-7:30 am; in front of Raytheon plant near Routes 133 and 93; Raytheon Peacemakers; Arthur Brien, 978-686-4418. Gloucester: Saturday, noon-1 pm; Grant Circle. Marblehead: Wednesday, 5-7 pm; at the Peace Pole, Memorial Park (by the YMCA); Tom Gale, 781-631-1218. Nashua, NH in front of Nashua City Hall from 11 to Noon every Sat. www.nashuapeace.org Newburyport: Sunday, noon-1 pm; Market Square; Niki Rosen, 978-463-3208. Reading: 2nd Saturday/each month, 11 am-noon; Reading Square; Reading People for Peace; Bob Connor, bobconnor1@yahoo.com. Rockport: Wednesday, noon-1 pm; First Congregational Church (silent for peace). Salem, MA: Saturday, 11-noon; Riley Plaza (by the Post Office). You can buy Rainbow Peace Flags, buttons, bumperstickers, etc. at Saturday vigils in Andover. Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Andover on the Peace and Justice Film Series. We are proud of her active efforts to stop the war and look forward to seeing her often among us. 14-year-old Annie Arnzen from North Andover speaks in front of church congregations and fellow students about her experience in Africa. She sells self-made jewelry as a fundraiser for expanding the orphanage where she volunteered. What started with a week of volunteering in an orphanage for children of AIDS victims in Botswana looks like it could turn into a long-term expanding mission, touching many lives in different parts of the world. After Annie visited the UU Church in Andover, the Rev. Ralph Galen pledged to ask UU Mass Action, a state coalition of Unitarian Universalist congregations, to take up the cause. He hopes that eventually the effort could attract the attention of the UU Global AIDS coalition, which consists of about 50 groups across the country dedicated to the fight with AIDS. Annie’s effort and dedication was covered in the January 18 Boston Globe : “Week in Botswana Sparks Global Mission.” “I had come to Botswana to try and help SOS Orphanage and make an impact on a few children’s lives,” she said, “But already they were helping me see what was truly important in life.” January 11th, the fifth anniversary of the first detainees being brought to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, was marked by protests around the world against the notorious detainment center. The International Day to Shut Down Guantanamo was organized by Amnesty International with the participation of other human rights groups. In Cuba, a 15-member U.S. delegation including Cindy Sheehan, Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans, Colonel Ann Wright, constitutional lawyers and family members of detainees, led a march of about fifty people to the military barrier surrounding the prison. In London, over 400 people dressed in orange jumpsuits rallied in front of the U.S. embassy. Protests were held in Madrid, Berlin, Budapest, and Melbourne. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon joined the calls to shut down the prison. In Washington D.C., hundreds of people gathered outside the federal courthouse. “Guantanamo has brought shame to our nation,” Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International, told the crowd from a lectern entwined with barbed wire. Close to one hundred protesters were later arrested inside the courthouse after raising signs with slogans including “Stop Torture” and “Close Down Guantanamo”. Protests and vigils were held in many cities across the U.S. In Andover, the local chapter of Amnesty International organized a candlelight vigil on front of Old Town Hall, which was joined by several MVPP members. Daniel Ellsberg, whose whistleblowing helped end the Vietnam War, and who ever since has stayed in the forefront of the peace movement, was one of the three recipients of the 2006 Right Livelihood Awards “for putting peace and truth first, at considerable personal risk, and dedicating his life to inspiring others to follow his example.” Presented annually in December in the Swedish Parliament, the Right Livelihood Awards (often referred to as ‘Alternative Nobel Prizes’) were introduced “to honor and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”. Ellsberg shared the award with Ruth Manorama, named India’s, most effective organizer and advocate for Dalit women belonging to the ‘scheduled castes’ (or so-called ‘untouchables’) and with the Festival Internacional de Poesia de Medellin in Colombia, a unique poetry festival which has helped build peace in one of the most violent cities of the world. The Honorary Award was given to Chico Whitaker Fereira for his lifelong dedicated work for social justice that has strengthened democracy in Brazil and helped give birth to the World Social Forum, showing that ‘another world is possible’. U.S. trucking industry leaders and fleet owners are drawn by fuel cost pressure, pollution problems and promising technology to making and operating hybrid vehicles. New York, Chicago, Houston and other big cities want hybrid garbage trucks as soon as truck makers can build them. And the Environmental Protection Agency is promoting garbage trucks as ideal platforms for hybrid technologies, working best on vehicles that stop and go frequently. Delivery vans and shuttle buses will soon be in production, according to the nonprofit group CALSTART, which brings together hybrid truck makers and potential customers. Fleet owners that are testing hybrid trucks include the U.S. Postal Service, the two biggest private fleets: UPS and FedEx, and many public utilities. Protest music was high on the list of nominations for the 49th annual Grammy Awards. Twelve acts were nominated for work commenting on the Iraq war, President Bush’s policies, Hurricane Katrina and terrorism’s global shadow. Merrimack Valley People For Peace January - February 2007 p. 2
Hurray for the Dixie Chicks, winners of five awards – what a sweet vindication after the long-term ostracism by the country music establishment, the death threats and the plummeted sales that followed the group’s anti-Bush comments on the eve of the Iraq invasion! The Chicks won the record and song of the year award for the no-regret anthem “Not Ready To Make Nice” in which lead singer Natalie Maines confronts those who assailed her for criticizing the president: “It’s too late to make it right, I probably wouldn’t if I could… ‘Cause I’m mad as hell!” John Mayer received the male pop performance award for “Waiting on the World to Change”: “Now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war / They would have never missed a Christmas, no more ribbons on their door.” Nominees included Bob Dylan for “Modern Times”, Bruce Springsteen for “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions”, Neil Young for “Living With War” and three spoken-word albums in which Al Franken, Bill Maher and Lewis Black skewer Bush, Congress, the GOP, the mainstream media and more. Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, calls songs about war, politics and social concerns “part of what the creative community does best, which is to reflect the feelings, emotions and opinions of million of people through music.” Letters about Israel/Palestine: In October, the group, ‘Wheels of Justice’ was invited to speak at Andover High School. After objections from a few parents and groups the invitation was debated until finally a way was found to allow them to speak January 5, as long as an opposing group could be heard. The opposing group turned out to be the David Project who spoke the following week. Wheels of Justice said that the State of Isreal is unfair to Palestinians and that peaceful efforts are being made to fight injustice. The David Project argued that there is good reason to be afraid of Palestinians and groups speaking for Palestinians. Now the Andover School Committee is designing stricter rules about who can speak. The following letters to editors, many from MVPP members, reflect the details and thoughts of how to make the situation better for Israelis and Palestinians, and for citiizens in the US. You can find more in articles in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, the Andover Townsman, and the Boston Globe around the dates of 11/6, 12/7, 12/10/06, 1/6, and 1/8/, 1/16, 2/1/07. Responsible freedom of speech Kerry A. Costello to the Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 11/22/06 I have observed the exercise of free speech under the first amendment in its full glory on the pages of this and other newspapers with regard to the Wheels of Justice program. I am struck by the need to blame, cast aspersions on the good character of others, label those who disagree with the writer as "extremists," or other professionals lacking good judgment who seek only to indoctrinate, rather than teach, all presented under the guise of this precious right. The irony of this interpretation is not lost on those of us who teach and are students of history. Without the first amendment and academic freedom, you do indeed descend into indoctrination by the government, often in concert with religious leaders. Ad hominem attacks will only pass for civil discourse if we allow them to be defined in that matter and don't exercise our civil rights. It is within this context that I write to express my umbrage on behalf of my colleagues who teach and are students of history as social studies teachers at Andover High School. One of them is named primarily because he is the president of the union, which had absolutely nothing to do with his role as a social studies teacher. This was not an Andover Education Association sanctioned event. It was planned and researched by the six teachers who, under the Principles of Effective Teaching, "Presents information recognizing multiple points of view; encourages students to assess the accuracy of information presented. The reference being that it must be directly related to the curriculum taught." The insinuation that my six colleagues used a personal political agenda or allowed themselves to be browbeaten by one among them as the basis for inviting the group is a baseless charge not substantiated by facts. To those who have been so quick to pontificate and pass judgment on their character and professional credentials, I offer this quote from Ghandi (who was deemed by some to be an "extremist" in his time in history), "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." We can agree to disagree about the comfort level of those who choose not to hear viewpoints that don't reflect their own view of the world, but to do so by impugning the reputation of the members of the Andover High School social studies department is wrong. Kerry A. Costello Boston Andover High School psychologist Eagle Tribune Editor's note: Costello is the first vice president of the Andover Education Association, but said he does not speak for the AEA on this issue. Media impartiality Mark Lipman to The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, 1/4/07 Dear Mr. Johnson, A few months back we shared words over the impartiality of the media. To quote you directly: "Lectures about the "courage" and "foresight" to print opposing views ring hollow, as does your upbraiding me for a "disservice to your readership and community." Consistent readers of The Eagle-Tribune's editorial pages know that we regularly publish letters offering opposing views. That is the very purpose of the editorial and op-ed pages." With all due respect, I do not write today to open up old wounds, but to make a clear example of how biased the media - all media - is when it comes to views that ring against the government's dictated status quo. Merrimack Valley People For Peace January - February 2007 p. 3
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January - February 2007 - Merrimack Valley People for Peace

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